Intention

Overall
By Maternal Age
By Parity

Breastfeeding is recommended by Health Canada as the sole feeding method for newborns until six months of age. Research has shown that a pregnant individual's intention to breastfeed is directly associated with breastfeeding initiation and duration.  For more information on how to breastfeed and where to find support, see the health unit’s website on breastfeeding. The data on this page are from the Better Outcomes Registry & Network (BORN).

Overall

Most expectant parents intend to exclusively breastfeed their baby.  In 2019, 86.6% (85.6%, 87.5%) of pregnant Simcoe Muskoka residents indicated that they intend to exclusively breastfeed and an additional 5.7% (5.1%, 6.3%) intend to feed a combination of breast milk and a breast milk substitute. Combining these groups together results in 92.3% (91.5%, 93.0%) of expectant parents who intend to feed ‘any’ breastmilk. Compared to Ontario, a higher percentage of Simcoe Muskoka residents intend to exclusively breastfeed and a lower percentage intend to combination feed. Few pregnant individuals in Simcoe Muskoka (6.5% (5.9%, 7.2%)) and Ontario (5.0% (5.1%, 5.24%)) intend to provide no breastmilk.

By Maternal Age

Expectant parents 15–24 years are less likely to report that they intend to feed their newborn ‘any’ breast milk (84.4% (81.1%–87.3%)) compared to those in older age groups 25–34 years (93.4% (92.5%–94.2%)) and 35-49 years (92.8% (91.1%–94.3%)).

By Parity

The intention to breastfeed decreases as the number of previous births increases. Ninety-five percent (94.7% (93.7%, 95.6%)) of pregnant individuals with no previous births (nulliparous) intend to provide any breast milk. This is significantly higher than individuals who had given birth one or more times previously (1 previous birth: 91.8% (90%, 93%); 2 previous births: 88.4% (85.8%, 90.6%); 3 or more previous births: 87.3% (83.1%, 90.8%). Despite their lower intention rates, second time parents have similar exclusive initiation and higher exclusive duration rates compared to first time parents, likely because intention is informed by the experience with the previous baby and therefore intention is a more accurate predictor of feeding type with second babies.